Our Mission

At the Center for Energy, Environment and Sustainability (CEES), we’ve sought to build a Center based not on the traditional definitions of environment and environmentalism from the last half-century, but rather one that looks forward to the next 50 years. Our research and scholarly activities are focused away from single-disciplines and the silos of basic or applied research. Our mission is to effect change through our work, and focus on taking knowledge and technology from the lab to society. This requires not only basic research, but also identifying the tools—enterprise, policy, education, marketing, the arts—that turns ideas into action.

The CEES faculty are committed to working towards a sustainable future through our research and public engagement, holding leadership roles not only in academia, but also in governments, non-profits, and corporations here at home and across the globe. At CEES we aggregate this talent, along with Wake Forest’s other considerable resources, and strive to make observable and significant progress across each of our three core streams of activity.